Premier League talking points: Emery has Aston Villa cruising

London — Over the past few years Aston Villa have been a journeyman mid-table team, but the arrival of manager Unai Emery looks to have changed that.

Under the Spaniard’s leadership Villa have been a changed team but with the same players such as Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins who were both in fine form in the 4-1 win over West Ham on Sunday. Watkins has upped his game dramatically and is in line to become a regular striker for England.

These and other talking points from the ninth round of the Premier League season.

Villa look capable of top-four challenge: Emery always plays down Villa’s chances of breaking into the top four but that mantra is beginning to look misplaced with his side going from strength to strength.

A 4-1 victory over West Ham on Sunday put them fifth and while Luiz grabbed the spotlight with a double, it was forward Watkins who epitomised Emery’s effect since the Spaniard took charge a year ago.

Watkins set up Luiz’s first goal and then produced a stunning finish to make it 3-1 — his fifth goal of the season. The striker had reached a plateau before Emery arrived but has since reached another level and looks a good bet to be part of England’s Euro 2024 squad. He has been directly involved in 27 goals across his 33 appearances under Emery (18 goals and nine assists) and has targeted 20 league goals this season.

Newcastle’s Murphy gives Howe selection headache: Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy’s brilliant opening 45 minutes against Crystal Palace on Saturday has not made Eddie Howe’s job any easier as the manager tries to keep his abundance of attacking talents happy.

Murphy scored early and created two more goals in a 4-0 win but it was how he combined with fullback Kieran Trippier that really caught the eye as the home side dominated Palace, going in 3-0 up at the break. Trippier set up Murphy for his fourth-minute goal and the pair played in perfect harmony in the opening half, stretching the Palace defence to breaking point.

Howe will have a hard time ignoring Murphy now but he also has the likes of Miguel Almiron and Alexander Isak, who started on the bench, and Callum Wilson to keep happy too — not a bad problem to have in the Premier League.

Dyche no fan of VAR as Everton lose at Anfield: Everton manager Sean Dyche was not a fan of the officiating in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Liverpool, criticising VAR for slowing down the game and saying he prefers the old handball rules.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting bored of all this running over to the TV, because we all know what’s going to happen don't we?” Dyche told reporters.

“I don’t know what the strike rate is but it’s probably about 99% chance that the referee is going to give whatever he has been told. We’re talking about speeding the game up, why not just get on with it? You’ve got somebody in an office with 47 views, if it’s a penalty, it’s a penalty.”

Everton, who played most of the game with only 10 men, were on the wrong side of three key decisions but Dyche was particularly upset when Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate was not shown a second yellow card for tripping Beto.

Dyche got a yellow card for venting his frustration, saying afterwards that referee Craig Pawson’s decision was “nearly impossible”. Even Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp sided with his Everton counterpart, saying: “Ibrahima, could have gone, yes.”

Palmer, Gallacher shine for striker-less Chelsea: Arsenal started the London derby against Chelsea with what looked like Mikel Arteta’s best front three of Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli but it was the Blues’ makeshift attack that was far sharper in the 2-2 draw.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino named a line-up without a recognised striker and deployed 21-year-old midfielder Cole Palmer as a forward. He was anything but as his presence helped the home side win the battle in midfield and the final third.

Conor Gallagher was also tasked with bombing forward and created several chances as Arsenal’s defence failed to pinpoint a single threat from the hosts and were stretched at the back.

Palmer also put his hand up to take Chelsea’s early penalty, which he converted to give them the lead, instead of the more experienced Raheem Sterling, thereby giving Pochettino a welcome selection headache when his strikers are back from injury.

Doku adds to Man City’s forward threat: Manchester City were hardly lacking attacking options last season as they landed a treble but the arrival of Belgian winger Jeremy Doku has given Pep Guardiola another card to play.

He was electrifying in a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, setting up the opener for Julian Alvarez with his pace down the left, and was named man of the match. And the 21-year-old says there is much more to come.

“I think I could have had a couple of goals from some shots that were off target. It’s what I'm going to learn in the training sessions,” the former Stade Rennais player said. “I’m happy with the assist and it was a good game for myself. I’ll keep on learning.”

Reuters